Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1887-12-15
CHAT ABOUT DRUGS.
A FEW OF THE MEDICINES THAT
PATIENTS iiAVE TO SWALLOW.


PATIENTS HAVE TO SWALLOW.
What a Phyician Has to Say-AppH-
cations of the Most Important Drugs.
Watching for the Leading symptoms.
A Professional Secret.
''What are some of the most important
drugs and their appications!7 said a leading
physician as he repeated the reporters inter-
rogatory. "Why, you viii be surprised" he
said, 'when 1 make the statement that not
over dozen of the hundred and odd drugs
upon the shelves of any city prescription
store are in general use among the profession
or considered important in combating disease.
No need for astonishment, it is fact; and
my experience from day to day, based upon
observations in an extended practice, leads
me to the conclusion that there is only one
drug g-quinine-which can be relied on to
produce uniform results Quinine approaches
a specific more closely than any other remedy
known to medical practice All other drugs
vary, and at times to an alarming extent, in
the results produced by their administration,
but quinine is very nearly infallible in the
treatment of that class of disease popularity
termed malarial, and about onc-half the NOR
tality of the world may be traced to those
diseases. In fact in all cases of blood poison
ing this drug is the favorite In the valley
of the Loire, in France; along certain por-
tions Of the Thames river, in England; the
Roman Campagna and the Pontine marshes,
in Italy, the coast of the Gulf Of Mexico, and
the mangrove swamps of the tropical regions,
where malaria is endemic, the continued use
of quinine is an absolute necessity, and from
L.
recorded against it. Is there q quinine habit!
1 have never met but one case. The effect Of
the drug is not speedy enough to have its use
deteriorate into habit.
''Next to quinine iodide and bromide of
potassium lay tribute on the profession, a.
though their action ct times is sadly erratis.
The former with iron constitutes the basis Of
blood purifiers, 50 called, although such
thing as blood purifier, in the popular ac-
ceptation of the term, is unknown in medi-
cine. 1t exists only on the cure all placards
Of the patent medicine compounder, and in
the materia medica of the quack. IOdide of
potassium acts as an absorbent in the blood,
and its efficacy as q remover of impurities is
brought about in that way.
Bromide of potassium and with it chlOral
are used principally in the treatment of her
vous diseases. They lessen the flow of blood
to the brain, moderate nervous activity, and
calm exciting emotions, producing a state of
mental rest. Thus they are used largely in
the treatment of the insane, and in cases of
mental exhaustion. Digitalis is probably en-
titled to the next place from its importance
as heart tonic. We appeal to it in cases
of weakness of the heart, and in most cases
of diseases affecting that organ, although its
use does not cover every species of heart dis
ease. Bismuth and pepsin are the remedies
the profession considers the most efficacious
in the treatment of the internal organs of
digestion. The former is used in disturbances
of the stomach and bowels, while the latter
is issupposed to supply the lack Of acid, which
is one of the instruments by which food is
disested in the stomach In surgery car
boic acid and iodoform are the principal
drugs used. The acid acts as a disinfectant,
the other has important properties in heal
ing.
Drugs" the doctor continued, ''and their
administration is the least arduous part Of a
physicians business; the great field that exer-
cises skill and acknowledges ability in the
profession and out of it lies in the deterInin-
ing of disease or the study of its symptoms
here is where the physician pauses. We only
I.now disease by its symptoms, and when we
are called to the bedside of the sick person
cur energies are bent to discover the most
prominent existing symptoms, and, knowing
these, the great traditions of the science and
our own experiences point out the remedies
that are applicable. And here let me say
that there is scarcely such thing as wrong
treatment, SO often heard assailing members
of the profession when they fail to effect a
speedy cure As 1 have said, we always
treat the leading symptoms first. This is the
invariable and only rule that can guide US,
but frequently the drugs that have done most
efficacious work before in combating exactly
the same symptoms appear perfectly useless
III the present case; this is owing, of course,
to the existence of the latent symptoms
which will determine the nature of the dis
case, and for which we arc compelled to wait
unless dismissed in tho meantime as ircom-
petent in the opinion of the patient or his
friends, and new man called"
''Do many people consult you, doctor,
whose ills are imaginary interrogated the
scribe. The doctor smiled ard relighted his
cigar.
''In answering your inquiry" he said, st
will be necessary for me to unload q profcS-
sionGl secret, but guess it has leaked out be-
fore this. Many of our Office consultations
are with people who are laboring under the
apprehension that they are about to become
invalids. Why, case Of that character left
my Office not an hour ago. Ho is railroad
engineer, and thought his kidneys were
affected, an idea produced, supposo, by an
occasional pain in the muscles OF the back
caused by the continued position which those
men are compelled to assume. gave him !
prescription and told bin he would be al
right, although lie didn't need it any more
than you or l. I'll guarantee, though, that
that prescription, which will fill large
bottle will not hurt him, for it's nothing but |
little syrup and water, with sufficient sarsa-
parilla added to color it. Why did 1 give it |
to him? Because if told h1.n that he needed |
no medicine he would in Ill probability so to
some other physician who knew his business
and get the worth OF his money, as he would
term it. By giving him that prescription
have saved him another fee. l used TO tell
such people when l first began practice that
they needed 10 medicine, but 1 found that
my honest advice was attributed to ignorance
on my part of their hypothetical disease.
Strange, isn't it, but it is q fact, that the
majority of persons who visit physician
want something for their money, and gencr-
ally the more medicine they can get and, asa
consequence, the larger their druggists bill
becomes the better you please them"